It’s becoming increasingly challenging for brands to capture and maintain consumers’ attention online.

People are getting better at pass over ads, consciously or not, making it challenging for advertisers to achieve their campaign goals.

At the same time, innovative advertising solutions are emerging to tackle these questions, and one of those solutions is interactive ads – an engaging alternative to the traditional static banner ad format.

Confectionery household name Mars is one of the brands that has already tasted the sweet benefits of interactive rich media.

“Rich media is a non-standard solution that helps to be at the forefront of the competition and bring good results for viewability”  said Arman Akhonov, Digital Media Planner at MediaCom.

Together with Eskimi and MediaCom, the company ran its “Loose Fall” campaign to boost awareness for its mini-size chocolate candies, like SNICKERS®, TWIX®, BOUNTY®, and MILKY WAY®, and was not only able to reach its target audience effectively but also overachieve some of the campaign’s KPIs.

In a world where people swipe and scroll past ads in a hurry, Mars decided to go against the grain and create effective, memorable advertising that helps to catch the attention of its target audience.

About Mars

Mars is an American multinational confectionery and pet food manufacturer that was founded in 1911 by Frank C. Mars and is still successfully operating to this day. The company remains family-owned and has a presence in more than 80 countries worldwide.

You must have heard about some of Mars’ most famous brands, such as M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, SKITTLES®, HUBBA BUBBA®, and more. The company also produces pet food, including PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, CHAPPIE®, and ROYAL CANIN®.

Currently, Mars employs over 130,000 people globally and has made it to the Forbes list of America’s Best Large Employers (2023). In 2022, it was also named one of the largest privately held companies in the world, with an annual revenue of over $45 billion.

With the “Loose Fall” campaign that Mars ran in Kazakhstan with Eskimi and Mediacom, the company wanted to promote its tiny candies' "loose" mix, targeting people aged between 18 and 54.

Ads highlighted Mars’ products as a part of a cozy time with the family – something that can make those precious little moments even sweeter, and quite literally.

Programmatic as an integral part of advertising strategy

Running ad campaigns with Eskimi enabled Mars to overcome challenges the company has faced when advertising. The key goal of the campaign was to spread the word about Mars products to candy lovers across the country.

“Mars, as a brand, has a very diverse audience scattered across many different channels,” said Arman Akhonov. “Everyone can find these products relevant, from pet lovers to, in this case, chocolate fans.

“Therefore, running ads programmatically is integral to Mars’ advertising strategy. It helps us reach our audience on various channels and raise awareness about Mars products among our ideal customers.”

Brand safety is another topic that Arman Akhonov touches upon when talking about the main reasons for using programmatic advertising for Mars campaigns.

“Due to the current geopolitical situation, there are contexts in which we would not like the Mars brand to appear. It’s great that on Eskimi, sensitive topics are excluded by default. But additionally, we appreciate the possibility of not appearing next to the news about war and being able to exclude Russian and Belarusian websites.”

Creating an eye-catching wrapper for the Mars campaign

Anyone who’s ever tried to launch an ad campaign knows what impact planning and smooth execution can have on success.

Relying on Eskimi before the campaign launch to overcome advertising challenges has proven to be the right decision.

“First of all, the main difference I see with Eskimi compared to other platforms is that we can run those high-impact rich media ads. What’s even better, we can receive support from Eskimi’s creative team and fully trust that the designs we share with them will be turned into true eye candy.”

Arman Akhonov also highlights every agency or brand's everyday struggles: “In such fast-paced environments, creatives can sometimes come late, and the landing pages take longer than expected. In such cases, we’re glad to have the option to pass the initiative to Eskimi.

“The team always helps us to adapt creatives and, most importantly, everything is on time. If I asked the Eskimi team to launch a campaign, I could be confident that it will be launched, even if it’s last minute.”

Transparent reporting for informed future decisions

Tracking the performance of an ad campaign is crucial to determine its effectiveness and making necessary adjustments in the future. 

With transparent campaign reporting, Mars can gain valuable insights into its target audience and improve the overall advertising strategy for better results, while for MediaCom, it helps to build trust between the agency and the client.

“We value that we have access to campaign reports, can clearly see the campaign performance, and present the numbers to our clients,” says Arman Akhonov.

“Regarding the Mars campaign, one of the most important things in the Eskimi report for us was the ability to check impressions, reach, CTR, and viewability – all in real-time.”

Results

The “Loose Fall” campaign, which ran from August to October and promoted mini chocolate candies from Mars, achieved results that both the confectionery giant and MediaCom were happy about.

• Mars campaign ads achieved a viewability of 74%
• The average CTR for the campaign was 0.96%
• The initial expectations regarding the CTR were exceeded by 82.35%